“Oh, this is Queen Madeleine,” Adele replied.
“Your Majesty,” he said, squatting in front of Madeleine. He took the little girl’s hand, kissed its back, then gave her a smile that could win over a wicked witch from any fairy tale.
“And this is the Queen Mother,” Adele said, smiling as Marie came out of the kitchen. “Jerry, John, I’d like you to meet my sister, Mrs. Marie Everett.”
The smile Marie gave them both lit Adele’s heart. Gone were the weary lines beneath her eyes and the weak attempt at conversation from earlier. The nap had certainly helped.
“What a pleasure, meeting you both.” She winked at Jerry. “I’ve heardso muchabout you.”
The table was a noisy celebration, the loudest of all the voices being a tie between John and Guillaume. Both seemed determined to outdo the other on making everyone laugh. Fortunately for Marie, Arthur had chosen to sleep through the entire supper rather than join them. John was in fine form, encouraging conversation from Marie, then leaning down and teasing Madeleine, who sat beside him, staring in awe. If Adele hadn’t known better, she’d say Madeleine had developed her first crush.
Across from John, Jerry was quiet and introspective as always, but she could see he was happy to leave the spotlight to his brother. Adele looked between the two, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. Charming John might look every bit like a man from the pictures, but it was Jerry, with his quiet calm, who had captured Adele’s heart before he’d even been able to speak a word out loud.
She couldn’t help but observe Marie throughout the meal. She’d missed her terribly, and she wanted her to have so much fun that she’d come back again and again. It was more than a selfish thought, though. It was hard to tell, but Adele had a strong feeling that something more than travel fatigue was going on with her sister. Marie appeared to be in fairly good spirits, occasionally jousting with John, even eating with enthusiasm. And yet there was a sadness behind her eyes that only Adele—and possibly their mother—could see.
“You’re a nurse as well?” John asked, though he knew the answer perfectly well. Adele had told them both all about her so they’d be prepared.At the same time, Jerry had given John a warning that Marie was a supporter of temperance, and they’d agreed to keep their line of work out of the conversation.
Marie patted her lips with a napkin. “I was a nurse, yes. But I only got to work for a few months before I got married.”
“Ah. You sacrificed work for love. Sounds like a good choice,” John joked.
At that moment, Madeleine dumped an entire spoonful of mashed potatoes with gravy onto her dress, then screamed with alarm. “Mommy!”
Cooing at her daughter, Marie picked up what she could of the potato and dabbed at the dress. “Don’t worry, darling. We’ll fix it later. Please don’t cry. We’re having a nice, adult supper.” She looked at John. “Sometimes I’m not sure I did make the right choice.” But she was smiling as she said it.
“We take care of lots of messes in nursing,” Adele said lightly. “You can’t escape them.”
Madeleine’s lip was stuck out, making it clear she was still primed for a little pouting, so Marie leaned down to her ear. “You know that adults don’t pout. I want to see your happy face now. If you cannot manage that, you will go to bed immediately.”
Madeleine’s eyes widened at the threat, and she pasted on a huge, desperate grin, making everyone laugh.
Maman stood up and held out a hand. “Come with me, Madeleine. We’ll get you a clean dress to wear.”
“Anyhow, I never could have done what Adele did,” Marie continued, as her mother and her daughter toddled down the hallway. “I was not made for war.”
“None of us were,” Adele assured her.
“Ain’t that the truth,” John agreed. “I’m sure you would have been just as courageous as she was. Though I gotta tell you, she sure was impressive when I met her, rushing from sickbed to sickbed, her pretty blue gown covered in blood—”
“John,” Jerry said, seeing Marie’s eyes widen. “Pardon my brother.”
John apologized with a sheepish grin. “I forget myself sometimes. I apologize.”
“And what about you?” Marie asked as if nothing had interrupted them. “Tunnellers? Why does one become a tunneller?”
The brothers exchanged a glance. “We were assigned to it,” Jerry said with a shrug.
“Trust me,” John put in, “if I had to choose between going down there and getting married, I most certainly would have chosen to become a wife.”
Everyone laughed again, but Marie still seemed interested. “I know you were underground, so does that mean you actually saw fighting? Were you in the battles? Or just digging?”
The table fell quiet for a moment, and Marie’s cheeks flushed. “Was that rude?”
“No, no,” Adele said, jumping in to save her sister. “It’s fine.”
“I apologize. I’m completely lost when it comes to etiquette about this sort of thing, but I can’t help being curious, can I?”
John was the first to rebound, and he swept the conversation neatly away. “Well, let’s not worry about etiquette, Marie. Let’s not worry about war at all. There’s nothing fun in that. Instead, I think we should go out after supper,” John said, turning to Jerry. “Why don’t we stop in at the Riverside Inn tonight?”
